Paint tray and liner therefor



Jan. 26, 196.0 H..BERNHARDT PAINT TRAY AND LINER THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

Filed June 4, 1958 INVENTOR: HENRY B RNHARDT BY ATT'Y Jan- 2 1 H. BERNHARDT PAINT TRAY AND LINER THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1958 INVENTOR. HENRY B NHARDT United States Patent PAINT TRAY AND LINER THEREFOR Henry Bernhardt, Chicago, Ill. Application June 4, 1958, Serial No. 739,885

3 Claims.- (Cl. 1512 1.3)

The present invention relates to paint trays of the type which are adapted for use in connection with a roller-type paint applicator. In utilizing a roller-type paint applicator, it is essential to employ a paint receptacle by means of which paint may be applied to the roller evenly in order that the latter may, in turn, apply a uniform coating of paint to the surface undergoing painting. Paint trays of this character must therefore have a wide area bottom capable of supporting a shallow pool of the paint with the width of the bottom being at least as great as the longitudinal extent of the roller and with the length of the bottom being such as to permit the roller to move tractionally along the bottom during several complete turns of the rollers so that the paint may be evenly forced into the porous roller. Ordinarily, paint trays of this general character are constructed of sheet aluminum or of tin plated sheet iron, some trays being made of flat pieces of material joined at the edges and corners and others being formed as sheet metal stampings with gently curved corners and wall junctures. In either event, the trays, if they are to be reused, must be thoroughly cleaned after each use thereof, the cleaning operation involving the use of turpentine or other solvent which, for effective cleaning, must be used in considerable quantity, especially where initial scrubbing operations followed by a rinsing procedure is involved. The inconvenience involved in connection with such cleaning operations depends largely upon' the shape of the container, containers which have curved surfaces being generally easier to clean than those which have relatively deep and sharp corners.

The present invention is designed to overcome the abovenoted limitation which is attendant upon the use of conventional paint trays of this character and, toward this end, it contemplates the provision of a paint tray assembly which can be reused indefinitely without necessitating cleaning thereof. Accordingly, the invention provides a sheet metal paint tray container which does not deviate in shape appreciably from the shape of conventional paint trays and which therefore is possessed of all the advantageous features associated with such paint trays, and which container has associated therewith a removable combined liner and covering which, when in operative position on the container not only lines the bottom and side walls of the container but also effects a covering for the outside of the container so that during painting operations the pool of paint is maintained out of contact with any portion of the container, while at the same time the outside of the container is shielded from contact with stray paint particles such as splattered paint, paintdrippings and the like.

The provision of a paint tray of the character briefly outlined above being among the principal objects of the invention, a further object is to provide such a paint tray and liner, together with novel means whereby the liner may b'eeasily applied to and removed from the tray and which, when applied to the latter, is securely heldthereon in a substantially completely covering relationship without ice requiring the use of special fastening means such as friction tape, clamping screws, spring clamping clips or the like.

it is a further object of the invention, in a paint tray of'this character to provide a novel supporting means whereby the tray may be fixedly attached to a supporting surface such as a table edge or the step of a step ladder or the like during use of the tray, with the supporting means also constituting an element of the liner-retaining device associated with the tray.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray of this sort wherein the liner-retaining means is permanently associated with the paint tray container and held against dislodgement, thus avoiding the possibility of misplacing or losing of the parts associated with the same.

The provision of a paint tray of this general character which is extremely simple in its construction and which therefore is unlikely to get out of order; one which is comprised of a minimum number of parts and which therefore may be manufactured at a relatively low cost; one in which the parts thereof may be formed of light sheet metal stampings, thereby further reducing the cost of manufacture; one 'in which the liner clamping means associated therewith, when in operative position on the liner, assumes an out-of-the-way position where it does not interfere with application of the paint roller to the tray; one which is rugged and durable and which therefore is possessed of a relatively long life, and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features which have been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is an'exploded perspective view of a paint tray assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled paint tray showing the manner in which a liner element associated with the same is pressed into position Within the tray;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2 showing the tray in a position of use with the liner-pressing element removed;

Fig.4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the vertical plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the vertical plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. a a

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a paint receptacle or container has been designated in its entirety at 10 and, insofar as its general overall shape and configuration is concerned, it is of more or less conventional design. The container is provided with a bottom wall including a sloping portion 11 which merges with a relatively steep drop-oif portion 12 which in turn merges with a lower portion 14 which, in combination with the container side walls, establishes a shallow well for a pool of paint. The sloping portion 11 of the bottom wall may be provided with a series of parallel, spaced, transversely extending, short ribs 15 and with a series of parallel spaced, inclined ribs 16 on opposite sides of the series of ribs 15.' The ribs 15 may serve the purpose of frictionally engaging the roller of the paint applicator (not shown) to retain the roller in the shallow portion of the tray and out of the pool of paint when the roller is not in use, Whilethe' inclined rib 16" serves the purpose of pressing excess paint from the roller-applicator after the rollerhas been dipped in' the pool of paint existing in the relatively deep well portion of the tray. The tray is further provided with a relatively shallow front wall 18, a relatively deep rear wall 20 and, generally triangular shaped side walls 22 and 24 respectively which are shaped conformably to the irregular shaped bottom wall 11, 12, 14. The edges of juncture between each of the side and end walls and the bottom wall 14 are generally curved as are the edges of juncture between the adjacent side walls themselves. The upper open end of the container is provided with a rolled head 26 which performs several functions in the assembly including that of reinforcing and strengthening the tray as a whole, of preventing cutting of the fingers during handling of the tray, of avoiding denting of the tray edges, and of operating as a latching means for purposes that will be made clear presently.

While it is possible to use the above described paint tray container 10 in the usual manner by pouring a small quantity of paint directly into the well portion 14 of the container, according to the present invention, and in order to prevent contamination of any portion of the tray by contact with the paint, a sheet or liner 30 is adapted to be placed over the bottom wall of the container and to extend upwardly along the various sides thereof, over the bead or rim 26 and downwardly along the outside of the vertical walls of the container with the liner closely following the surface contour of the container so that the paint may be poured into the container through the open rim thereof so that it will come in contact only with the liner, while at the same time the functional advantages of the paint tray are preserved. As best seen in Fig. 1, the liner 30 may be in the form of a rectangular sheet of transparent plastic material as for example cellophane or other cellulose ester type of material, although other materials, transparent, translucent or opaque such as aluminum foil or the like are contemplated. The sheet 30 is of a length and width slightly greater than the length and width respectively of the container so that when it is in its operative position as shown in Fig. 2 on the container it will line the bottom and walls of the container and also cover the outside surfaces of the container side walls 18, 20, 22 and 24. In applying the sheet 30 to the container 10 the same is loosely spread over the upper rim of the container and thereafter the sheet may be forced into the container by means of a presser plate 32 which may be in the form of a flat sheet of rigid material such as metal or reinforced cardboard. The plate 32 conforms generally in configuration to the rectangular configuration of the container 10 and has its corner regions truncated as at 34 to accommodate the regions of juncture or corners of the container 10. The central region of the plate 32 may be relieved as at 36 to provide a transverse handle 38 by means of which the plate may be inserted into and removed from the container 10. Although the plate 32 is planar so that it does not conform exactly to the contour of the bottom wall of the container 10, it nevertheless is capable of penetration into the interior of the tray to a suflicient depth that the material of the sheet 30 will be pressed into approximate position as a liner within the container so that when the paint is poured onto the surface of the liner within the container the weight of the paint will force the liner into intimate contact with the well portion 14 while the roller applicator may be employed to force the liner downwardly against the inclined or sloping portion 11 of the bottom wall of the container.

According to the present invention, clamping means are provided whereby the sheet 30 may have its marginal regions folded around the head or rim 26 and into intimate contact with the outer faces of the container side walls 18, 20, 22 and 24. Accordingly, a generally rectilinear, U-shaped bail 40 having parallel arms 42 and 44, and a connecting bight portion 46, has its free ends pivoted as at 48 in any suitable manner as for example by rivets or the like, to the side walls 22 and 24 adjacent the shallow end-of the container 10 in the vicinity of the end wall 18. The spread of the bail 40 is such that it may be moved from a vertical elevated position such as has been shown in Fig. l to a generally horizontal lowered position such as has been shown in Fig. 2 wherein the arms 4-2 and 44 closely hug the side walls 22 and 24 respectively, with the bight portion 46 closely hugging the end wall 20. It will be seen therefore that with the rectangular liner 30 spread over the upper rim of the container as previously outlined with its marginal regions overhanging the rim 26 of the container, when the bail 40 is moved to its lower position it will engage the marginal regions of the liner 30 and force the same to the approximate position wherein they are illustrated in Fig. 2 with the presser. plate 32 maintaining the central regions of the liner in close proximity to the bottom wall of the container 10. In order to maintain the bail 40 in its operative lower generally horizontal position, a pair of spring clips or fingers 50 are riveted or otherwise secured as at 52 to the medial regions of the arms 42 and 44 respectively and have curved outer extremities 54 which are adapted to effectively engage the underneath portion of the rim or head 26 so that the bail 40 may be snapped into position below the rim 26 of the container 10 as shown in Fig. 2. In order to receive the connecting base portion 46 of the U-shaped bail 40 a U-shaped cradle strip 56 is secured to the rear wall 20 and extends substantially the full length of the wall.

As best seen in Figs. 1 and 5, a pair of supporting feet in the form of L-shaped brackets 60 and 61 each having a vertical flange 62 and a horizontal flange 64 have the vertical flange portions thereof secured to the front wall 18 of the container 10 and projects downwardly below the level of the inclined bottom wall 11 so that when the container 10 is disposed on a flat supporting surface such as a table or the like, the container will find a three point support on the surface with the bottom wall of the trough portion 14 extending substantially horizontally in face-to-faee engagement with the supporting surface. The horizontal flange portion 64 of the supporting feet or brackets 6t) and 61 extend beneath the inclined bottom wall portion 11 and constitute, in effect, hook portions by means of which the shallow end of the container 10 may be hooked over an edge of a supporting member such as the step of a step ladder or the like.

In order to retain the marginal region of the sheet or liner 30 at the shallow end of the container structure 10 in its folded position against the outside face of the wall 18, a retaining arm or bar 70 is pivoted on a stud 72 to the vertical flange 62 of the bracket 60 and is capable of swinging movement from the vertical position shown in Fig. 1 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2 wherein the distal end region thereof is engaged in the bight portron of a U-shaped cradle clip 74 suitably secured to the outside face of the vertical flange 62 of the foot or bracket 61.

From the above description it is thought that the construction, use, and many advantages of the herein described paint tray will be apparent. It will be understood of course that after the retaining bail 40 and bar 72 have been moved to their home positions with the liner or sheet 30 folded around the upper rim or head 26 of the container 10 in the manner previously described, the presser plate 32 will be removed and the deformed liner or sheet 30 will retain its dished configuration in conformity with the shape of the inside of the container 10. The placement of a quantity of paint within the well portion of the container above the bottom wall 14, and the use of the applicator roller which is drawn across the inclined bottom wall portion 11 of the container will serve to completely deform the sheet or liner 30 andbring the same into intimate face-to-face contact with the inner surfaces of the container 10. After a particular painting operation has been completed, it is merely necessary to elevate the bail 40 and the bar 70 to the position wherein they are illustrated in Fig. 1, whereupon the marginal regions of the liner 30 may be gathered together so as to form a bag, so to speak, and any unused quantity of paint remaining within the container may be withdrawn with the liner 30 and discarded. The container 10 will remain clean for a subsequent use inasmuch as no paint will come into contact therewith when the liner is operatively positioned thereon.

Although it is contemplated that as a marketable article of manufacture a number of the sheets or liners 30 will be cut to size and furnished as a part of the packaged equipment, such liners may be cut to size from stock by the consumer. To facilitate measurement of the liners 30 for cutting purposes, a pair of notches 80 or other indicia may be applied to the bail arms 40 as best seen in Figs. 1 and 2 so that when the bail is swung outwardly away from the container proper and into the general plane of the latter, the distance from the notches and the remote i end of the container will be the proper measured longitudinal distance for sheet cutting purposes.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification since various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Only insofar as the invention has been particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A paint tray designed for use with a roller applicator and comprising in combination a shallow container formed of sheet metal and having a generally rectangular bottom wall, opposed pairs of upstanding side and end walls respectively, and an open rim lying in and defining a plane, a bead coextensive with said rim, a removable lining for the inside surfaces of said bottom, side and end walls, as well as for the outside surfaces of said side and end walls, said lining comprising a thin sheet of flexible deformable material of a width at least as great as the width of said bottom plus twice the height of each of said side walls and of a length at least as great as the length of said bottom plus twice the height of each of said end walls, said lining being positionable in centered relationship over said container so that portions thereof closely hug said inside and outside surfaces in face-to-face contact therewith, means for releasably clamping the liner to the outside surfaces respectively of the side walls and one end wall, said means comprising a U-shaped bail having straight parallel side arms and a straight connecting bight portion, the distal ends of said arms being pivoted to said side walls respectively at adjacent ends thereof, the length of the bail side arms being approximately equal to the length of said side walls and the length of said bight portion being approximately equal to the length of one of said end walls whereby the bail is movable between an elevated position of liner release and a lowered clamping position wherein the bail surrounds said side walls and one of said end walls with the liner interposed between the bail and such walls, and means for releasably clamping the liner to the outside surface of the other end wall, said latter means comprising a clamping bar of a length substantially equal to the length of said latter end wall, said latter end wall being provided with a pair of depending foot portions at opposite ends thereof, said clamping bar having one end pivoted to one of said foot portions and being movable between an elevated position of liner release and a lowered clamping position wherein the bar has its distal end in close proximity to said other foot portion with the liner interposed between said distal end and latter foot portion and clamped therebetween.

2. A paint tray as set forth in claim 1 including, additionally, a spring finger fixedly secured to each of said bail arms medially thereof and engageable with said liner when the bail is in its lowered clamping position for exerting pressure against the upstanding side walls to which the bail arms are pivoted and frictionally retaining the bail in its clamping position.

3. A paint tray designed for use with a roller applicator and comprising in combination a shallow container formed of sheet metal and having a generally rectangular bottom wall, opposed pairs of upstanding side and end walls respectively, and an open rim lying in and defining a plane, a removable lining for the inside surfaces of said bottom, side and end walls, as well as for the outside surfaces of said side and end walls, said lining comprising a thin sheet of flexible deformable material of a width at least as great as the width of said bottom plus twice the height of each of said side walls and of a length at least as great as the length of said bottom plus twice the height of each of said end walls, said lining being positionable in centered relationship over said container so that portions thereof closely hug said inside and outside surfaces in face-to-face contact therewith, and means for releasably clamping such portions of the liner as closely hug the opposing surfaces of at least three of said upstanding walls to said latter walls, said means comprising a U-shaped bail having straight parallel arms and a straight connecting bight section, the distal ends of said arms being pivoted to one pair of opposed upstanding walls substantially at the adjacent ends thereof respectively, the length of the bail arms being approximately equal to the length of the upstanding walls to which they are respectively pivoted and the length of said bight section being approximately equal to the length of the upstanding wall remote from the pivotal connections for said bail arms whereby the bail is movable between a clamping position wherein it underlies the rim of the container with said liner interposed between the bail and said three upstanding walls and a position of release wherein the bail substantially overlies said rim of the container, one of said bail arms being provided with an indicia mark thereon, the distance between said indicia mark and the axis of pivotal connection of the bail to the upstanding walls plus the overall longitudinal extent of the container being substantially equal to the longitudinal extent of the container plus twice the height of each of said end walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,556,462 Torske Oct. 6, 1925 2,174,425 Schlumbohm Sept. 26, 1939 2,710,112 Thompson June 7, 1955 2,794,199 Schueler June 4, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 827 Great Britain of 1891 96,282 Germany June 16, 1897 

